Bread Arrives in Some Havana Neighborhoods Accompanied by Bible Verses

“I don’t care if it has religious sayings. The bakery on my block is decorated with a picture of Fidel and a July 26th poster, and no one complains about it.”

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 19 July 2025 — Pan de vida [Bread of life], reads the label on the bag of six rolls purchased this Friday at the home of Luis Manuel, a 21-year-old resident near Calzada de Diez de Octubre in Havana. A Bible verse on the back confirms that the package contains more than just food to satisfy hunger. “Everyone in the neighborhood is saying the same thing: ’We saw what’s written on it,’” the young man, who quickly devoured his allotted portion, told 14ymedio.

For 300 pesos a bag, the product fills the void left in Luis Manuel’s home by the lack of rice or root vegetables due to the rising price of agricultural products. “Now we’re eating more bread because rice has risen sharply, and here in this neighborhood it’s at 310 and even 320 pesos a pound,” he details. The peculiar package, which features a fragment from the Book of Isaiah, speaks of the poor and couldn’t be more in tune with the hardships experienced by the entire neighborhood, the city, and even the entire island.

“I don’t care if it has religious sayings. The bakery on my block is decorated with a picture of Fidel and a poster celebrating the 26th of July, and no one complains about it,” the young man reacts. The bags of bread come from 610 San Benigno Street in Santos Suárez, the modest bakery that supplies several areas of the same municipality. The bakery’s interior, filled with sacks of flour and the owner’s friendliness please those who come to buy because they sense that the supply will continue, unlike the fluctuations suffered by state sales, and they also receive friendlier treatment than at the rationed market.

A few years ago, it was unthinkable that a religious phrase would be included on a product that would end up being sold door-to-door. Much less so that a biblical reference would accompany bread, the food that for decades was a state monopoly until the economic reforms of the 1990s allowed the opening of private bakeries. Since then, the private sector has been gaining ground in the production of the product that officialdom has failed to maintain. With better quality and variety, the cookies, flautas, and loaves made by self-employed workers or micro, small, and medium-sized businesses are much tastier than the small, sour, and often greenish loaf purchased through the ration book.

On the other hand, the word “bread” is mentioned more than 400 times in the Bible, and it is no surprise at all. It is the most basic of all foods and a symbol that goes beyond something to put in your stomach. Bread is also a metaphor for the economy of a country or a family; it is synonymous with community, friendship, and divinity. Bread is, as the bag that Luis Manuel’s family emptied in just a few minutes says: life.

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